Ratliff's messy psychological thriller seems to have garnered quite some attention. Now there have been many movies centering around a sociopathic child. Most of them pretty much follow the same horror movie type formula where the child is terrorizing an entire family without them even noticing it. Unfortunately, 'Joshua' is no different. Firstly, the movie is filled with plot holes and unexplored questions. For example, why would Brad and Abby keep the video of Abby constantly crying when holding Joshua? Of course, not surprisingly, the psychologists and teachers are portrayed as caricature idiots (who think there's absolutely nothing wrong with this kid).
I was also surprised as how distant the parents were from Joshua in the beginning. Perhaps they knew something was off but stayed in denial. The parents too are portrayed as being stupid. They didn't even question Joshua giving all his toys away to charity and disemboweling his teddy bear. Some responses towards this movie are quite disturbing. One reviewer even wrote that he found himself vouching for the kid.
I wish there would be a movie that would at least do justice to the themes of a child sociopath rather than rely on clichés. Even the unexplored ending is very easily predictable and dissatisfying. The only non-clichéd angel is that director Ratliff refrained from using blood and gore but that doesn't make this a better movie. He tries to make it creepy by using typical shock tactics but they feel out of place. The so-called 'twists' are quite convenient. The behaviour of most of the characters is irrational.
The only plus point of 'Joshua' are the performances. Both Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga are very good in spite of having to play poorly written characters. I really wonder why they chose to act in this. Jacob Kogan plays it by the formula. Celia Weston is adequate even though her character is conveniently annoying as hell.
Overall, this is just trying to be a 'smarter' version of 'The Omen'. Other than Rockwell and Farmiga's performance, there's nothing going for it. Not even the slow pace.